The real Mccoy

Cana­dian-born in­ven­tor Eli­jah J. Mccoy’s in­no­va­tions in steam-en­gine lu­bri­ca­tion were so pop­u­lar that, ac­cord­ing to le­gend, rail­road en­gi­neers would ask if a par­tic­u­lar lo­co­mo­tive’s oil-drip-cup was “the real Mccoy” — one of the great man’s cre­ations — or an in­fe­rior knocko .

True or not, the phrase “the real Mccoy” has be­came iconic. It was also the ti­tle of a play about Mccoy’s life, writ­ten by Cana­dian play­wright An­drew Moodie and irst pro­duced in Toronto in 2006.